Now, here is a post I really intended to put up before the NBA regular season actually began. However, I can’t say that what I have seen so far in this season has influenced me to change my picks for Conference Champions or League Champion, Coach of the Year or MVP. Rookie of the Year is a different matter and I will explain.
EASTERN CONFERENCE: Cleveland Cavaliers. There are several very good teams in the East, but the Cleveland Cav’s remain the Power team in Conference. Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and Toronto should also be very good. However, I just can’t see any of these teams eliminating Cleveland in the playoffs. When Cleveland is at full strength they just have too much offensive firepower for any other team in the Conference.
WESTERN CONFERENCE: Golden State Warriors. What I initially wrote was this….”This was a very difficult pick to make because I really don’t think there too much separating the top 5 or 6 teams in the West. The Warriors will be very tough for years to come because their core team is fairly young. I also think HC Steve Kerr’s coaching staff is very sharp and innovative.” Ok, after the blazing start the Warriors have gotten off to I clearly have to amend my early assessment. Ah, there actually is a quite a bit separating Golden State from almost all the other teams in the West. However, I still think San Antonio may give them a serious challenge by the time we reach the play-offs and I still can’t totally write off OKC or the LA Clippers, despite their underwhelming start.
NBA CHAMPION: I think the Cav’s would have won the Championship last year if they had LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving all playing in the Finals, but losing both Love and Irving was just too much to overcome. Even after the Cleveland lost Love early in playoffs I thought they still thought their offense was potent enough to win a 7 game series against Golden State. Given the fact that the Cav’s pushed the Warriors to 6 games without Kyrie Irving in all but one of those games
Cavaliers win the Finals in 6 games.
MVP: Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors. Look, this is a real toss up. There are so many outstanding talents in the league. I was a Curry skeptic last year. Early last season I did not season he could lead the Warriors to a Championship, but he did and there is no denying his greatness.
Coach of the Year: David Blatt, Cleveland Cavaliers. Well, I’m picking Cleveland to win it all, so I have to go with Blatt to win COY.
Rookie of the Year: Kristaps Porzingis, New York Knicks. I been have tremendously impressed by what have seen of the Knick rookie. He was supposed to be a project with great potential that might not be realized until several years from now. Forget that, Kristaps is an become a key contributor for Knicks right now. KP is a real basketball prodigy. 7′ 3″ and he can shoot from 3 pt range and put the ball on the floor!?! The 2015 draft featured some truly outstanding Big Men, most notably #1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns and #3 pick Jahlil Oakor I initially thought they would have to be considered ROY favorites, but now I think Porzingis is going to be a real contender for the award.
gmf journal 